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G2372 θυμός (thymós)

Greek 📖 Greek Word Study
Noun, Masculine
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Quick Definition

θυμός, οῦ, ὁ n.m. an outburst of passion, wrath

Strong's Definition

passion (as if breathing hard)

Derivation: from G2380 (θύω);

KJV Usage: fierceness, indignation, wrath

UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament

noun, m. | -οῦ | θυμόομαι

88.178 · Moral and Ethical Qualities and Related Behavior · Anger, Be Indignant With

anger, fury, wrath, rage a state of intense anger, with the implication of passionate outbursts In a number of contexts θυμός[a] is combined with ὀργή[a] (88.173) in such a manner that the meaning of one simply heightens the intensity or significance of the other, as in ROM 2:8, τοῖς δὲ ἐξ ἐριθείας καὶ ἀπειθοῦσι τῇ ἀληθείᾳ πειθομένοις δὲ τῇ ἀδικίᾳὀργὴ καὶ θυμός ‘and to those who out of jealousy reject the truth and adhere to evil, there will be fury and anger.’ But in a number of languages it is necessary to specify who experiences such anger or fury, and therefore it may be necessary to translate ‘God will be furious and angry against them.’ The fury and anger of God is generally interpreted in terms of ‘divine retribution and punishment.’

LUK 4:28 · ACT 19:28 · ROM 2:8 · 2CO 12:20 · GAL 5:20 · EPH 4:31 · COL 3:8 · HEB 11:27 · REV 12:12 · REV 14:10 · REV 14:19 · REV 15:1 · REV 15:7 · REV 16:1 · REV 16:19 · REV 19:15

25.19 · Attitudes and Emotions · Desire Strongly

intense desire, overwhelming passion an intense, passionate desire of an overwhelming and possibly destructive character

REV 14:8 · REV 18:3

UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament © United Bible Societies, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Thayer's Greek Lexicon

θυμός, -οὔ, 6, (fr. θύω to rush along or on, be in a heat, breathe violently; hence Plato correctly says, Cratyl. p- 419 e., θυμὸς ἀπὸ τῆς θύσεως x. ζέσεως τῆς ψυχῆς; accordingly it signifies both the spirit panting as it were in the body, and the rage with which the man pants and swells), [fr. Hom. down], Sept. often for ἮΝ anger, and 721 excandescentia; also for 17 ἽΓῚ aestus. In the N. T. 1. passion, angry heat, (excandescentia, Οἷς. Tuse. 4, 9, 21), anger forthwith boiling up and soon subsiding again, (ὀργή, on the other hand, denotes indignation which has arisen gradually and become more settled; [ef. (Plato) deff. 415 6. θυμός: ὁρμὴ βίαιος ἄνευ λογισμοῦ: νόσος τάξεως Ψυχῆς ἀλογίστου. ὀργή" τιμωρεῖσθαι. Greg. Naz. carm. 34 θυμὸς μέν ἐστιν ἀθρόος ζέσις φρενός, ὀργὴ δὲ θυμὸς ἐμμένων, Herm. mand. 5, 2, 4 ἐκ δὲ τῆς πικρίας θυμός, ἐκ δὲ τοῦ θυμοῦ ὀργή; ef. Aristot. rhet. 2, 2, 1 and Cope’s note]; hence we read in Sir. xlviii. 10 κοπάσαι ὀργὴν mpd θυμοῦ, before it glows and παράκλησις τοῦ θυμικοῦ eis τὸ bursts forth; [see further, on the distinction betw. the two words, Trench § xxxvii., and esp. Schmidt vol. iii. ch. 142]): Lk. iv. 28; Acts xix. 28; Eph. iv. 31; Col. iii. 8; Heb. xi. 27; 6 6. τοῦ θεοῦ, Rev. xiv. 19; xv.1, 7; xvi. 1; ἔχειν θυμόν, to be in a passion, Rey. xii. 12 (Ael. ν. ἢ. 1, 14); ὀργὴ καὶ θυμός (as Sept. Mic. v. 15; Isoer. p- 249 ο.; Hdian. 8, 4,1; al.): Ro. ii. 8 (Ree. in the inverse order; so Deut. ix. 19; xxix. 23, 28, [ef. Trench u. s.]); plur. θυμοί impulses and outbursts of anger [ W176 (166); B. 77 (67)]: 2 Co. xii. 20; Gal. vy. 20, (2 Mace. iv. 25, 38; ix. 7; x. 85; xiv. 45; 4 Mace. xviii. 20; Sap. x. 3; Soph. Aj. 718 [where see Lob.]; Plat. Protag. p. 323 e.; [Phileb. p. 40 6. ; Aristot. rhet. 2, 13, 13]; Polyb. 3, 10,5; Diod. 13, 28; Joseph. b. 1. 4,5, 2; Plut. Cor. 1; al.). 2. glow, ardor: ὁ οἶνος τοῦ θυμοῦ [see οἶνος, b.] the wine of passion, inflaming wine, Germ. Glutwein (which either drives the drinker mad or kills him with its deadly heat; οἵ. Is. li. 17, 22; Jer. xxxii. 1 (xxv. 15) sqq.): Rev. xiv. 8; xviii. 3; with τοῦ θεοῦ added, which God gives the drinker, Rev. xiv. 10; with τῆς ὀργῆς Tov θεοῦ added [A. V. fierceness], Rev. xvi. 19 ; xix. 15; ef. Ewald, Johann. Schriften, Bd. ii. p. 269 note.

Mounce Concise Greek Dictionary

θυμός thumos 18x

pr. the soul, mind; hence, a strong passion or emotion of the mind; anger, wrath, Lk. 4:28; Acts 19:28; pl. swellings of anger, 2 Cor. 12:20; Gal. 5:20

Abbott-Smith Greek Lexicon

θυμός, -οῦ, ὁ

(< θύω), [in LXX most freq. for אַף, also for חֵמָה, חָרוֹן, etc., 30 words in all;]

passion, hot anger, wrath: He 11:27; ὀργὴ καὶ θ., Ro 2:8, cf. Col 3:8; πικρία κ. θ., Eph 4:31; πλησθῆναι, πλήρης θυμοῦ, Lk 4:28, Ac 19:28; θ. ἔχειν, Re 12:12; οἶνος τ. θυμοῦ τ. πορνείας (cf. Je 28 (51):7), Re 14:8 18:3 (cf. Re 17:2); οἶνος τ. θ. τ. θεοῦ, Re 14:10; id., τ. ὀργῆς τ. θεοῦ, Re 16:19 19:15; ὁ θ. τ. θεοῦ, Re 14:19 15:1, 7 16:1; pl., impulses or outbursts of anger: ἔρις, ζῆλος, θυμοὶ, ἐριθίαι, II Co 12:20, Ga 5:20 (Cremer, 287, 733).†

SYN.: ὀργή, παροργισμός.

Trench — Synonyms of the New Testament

Θυμός and ὀργή are found several times together in the N. T. (as at Rom. ii. 8; Ephes. iv. 31; Col. iii. 8; Rev. xix. 15); often also in the Septuagint (Ps. lxxvii. 49; Dan. iii. 13; Mic. v. 15), and often also in other Greek (Plato, Philebus, 47 6; Polybius, vi. 56. 11; Josephus, Antt. xx. 5. 3; Plutarch, De Coh. Ird, 2; Lucian, De Cal. 23); nor are they found only in the connexion of juxtaposition, but one made dependent on the other; thus θυμὸς τῆς ὀργῆς (Rev. xvi. 19; ef. Job iii. 17; Josh. vii. 26); while ὀργὴ θυμοῦ, not occurring in the N. T., is frequent in the Old (2 Chron. xxix. 10; Lam. i. 12; Isai. xxx. 27; Hos. xi.9). On one occasion in the Septuagint all the words of this group occur together (Jer. xxi. 5). When these words, after a considerable anterior history, came to settle down on the passion of anger, as the strongest of all passions, impulses, and desires (see Donaldὃ xxxvu. SYNONYMS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 131 son, New Cratylus, 3rd ed. pp. 675-679; and Thompson, Phedrus of Plato, p. 165), the distinguishing of them occupied not a little the grammarians and philologers. These felt, and rightly, that the existence of a multitude of passages in which the two were indifferently used (as Plato, Legg. ix. 867), made nothing against the fact of such a distinction; for, in seeking to discriminate between them, they assumed nothing more than that these could not be indifferently used on every occasion. The general result at which they arrived is this, that in θυμός, connected with the intransitive θύω, and derived, according to Plato (Crat. 419 6), ἀπὸ τῆς θύσεως καὶ ζέσεως τῆς ψυχῆς, ‘quasi exhalatio vehementior’ (Tittmann), compare the Latin ‘fumus,’ is more of the turbulent commotion, the boiling agitation of the feelings,' μέθη τῆς ψυχῆς, St. Basil calls it, either presently to subside and disappear,—like the Latin ‘ excandescentia,’ which Cicero defines (Tusc. iv. 9), ‘ira nascens et modo desistens ’—or else to settle down into ὀργή, wherein is more of an abiding and settled habit of mind (‘ira inveterata’) with the purpose of revenge; ‘cupiditas doloris reponendi’ (Seneca, De Ird, i. 5); ὁρμὴ ψυχῆς, ἐν μελέτῃ κακώσεως κατὰ Tod παροξύναντος (Basil, Reg. Brev. Tract. 68) ; 5 the German ‘ Zorn,’ ‘der activ sich gegen Jemand oder etwas richtende Unwille, die Opposition des unwillig erregten Gemiithes’ (Cremer). Thus Plato (Euthyph. 7) joins ἐχθρά, and Plutarch δυσμένεια (Pericles, 39), with ὀργή. Compare Theol. Stud. u. Krit. 1851, p. 99 866. 1 It is commonly translated ‘furor’ in the Vulgate. Augustine (Znarr. tn Ps. 1xxxvii. 8) is dissatisfied with the application of this word to God, ‘furor’ being commonly attributed to those out of a sound mind, and proposes ‘indignatio’ in its room. For another distinction, ascribing ‘ira’ and ‘furor’ alike to God, see Bernard, Serm. in Cant. 69, § 3; ἃ notice’ able passage. 2 In ἀγανάκτησις St. Basil finds the further thought that this eagerness to punish has the amendment of the offender for its scope. Certainly the one passage in the N. T. where ἀγανάκτησις occurs (2 Cor. vii. 11) does not refuse this meaning. K2 132 SYNONYMS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. ὃ xxxvut. This, the more passionate, and at the same time more temporary, character of θυμός (θυμοί, according to Jeremy Taylor, are‘ great but transient angers ;’' cf. Luke iv. 28 ; Dan. iii. 19) may explain a distinction of Xenophon, namely that θυμός in a horse is what ὀργή is in a man (De Re Eques. ix. 2; cf. Wisd. vii. 20, θυμοὶ θηρίων : Plutarch, Gryll. 4, in fine; and Pyrrh. 16, πνεύματος μεστὸς καὶ θυμοῦ, full of animosity and rage). Thus the Stoics, who dealt much in definitions and distinctions, defined θυμός as ὀργὴ ἀρχομένη (Diogenes Laértius, vii. 1. 63. 114) ; and Ammonius: θυμὸς μέν ἐστι πρόσκαιρος " ὀργὴ δὲ πολυχρόνιος μνησικακία. Aristotle, too, in his wonderful comparison of old age and youth, thus characterizes the angers of old men (Rhet. ii. 13): καὶ οἱ θυμοὶ, ὀξεῖς μέν εἰσιν, ἀσθενεῖς 5¢—like fire in straw, quickly blazing up, and as quickly extinguished (cf. Euripides, Androm. 728, 729). Origen (in Ps. ii. 5, Opp. vol. ii. p. 541) has a discussion on the words, and arrives at the same results: διαφέρει δὲ θυμὸς ὀργῆς, τῷ θυμὸν μὲν εἶναι ὀργὴν ἀναθυμιωμένην καὶ ἔτι ἐκκαιομένην " ὀργὴν δὲ ὄρεξιν ἀντιτιμωρήσεως: cf. in Hp. ad Rom. ii. 8, which only exists in the Latin: ‘ut si, verbi gratia, vulnus aliquod pessimum wram ponamus, hujus autem tumor et distentio indignatio -vulneris appelletur:’ so too Jerome (in Hphes. iv. 31): ‘Furor [θυμός] incipiens ira est, et fervescens in animo indignatio. Ira [ὀργή] autem est, que furore extincto desiderat ultionem, et eum quem nocuisse putat vult ledere.’ This agrees with the Stoic definition of ὀργή, that it is τιμωρίας ἐπιθυμία τοῦ δοκοῦντος ἠδικηκέναι οὐ προσηκόντως (Diogenes Laértius, vii. 113). So Gregory Nazianzene (Carm. ii. 34. 43, 44): Ἁ 1 Hampole in his great poem, The Pricke of Conscience, does not agree. In his vigorous, but most unlovely picture of an old man, this is one trait ;— ‘He es lyghtly wrath, and waxes fraward, Bot to turne hym fra wrethe, it es hard,’ ὃ xxxvu. SYNONYMS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 133 “θυμὸς μέν ἐστιν ἀθρόος ζέσις φρενός, ὀργὴ δὲ θυμὸς ἐμμένων. And so too Theodoret, in Ps. lxviii. 25 (Ixix. 24, E. V.), where the words occur together: διὰ τοῦ θυμοῦ τὸ ταχὺ δεδήλωκε, διὰ δὲ THs ὀργῆς τὸ ἐπίμονον. Josephus in like manner (B. J. ii. 8. 6) describes the Essenes as ὀργῆς ταμίαι δίκαιοι, θυμοῦ καθεκτικοί. So, too, Dion Cassius notes as one of the characteristic traits of Tiberius, ὠργίζετο ἐν οἷα ἥκιστα ἐθυμοῦτο (Vita Tib.). Μῆνις (Isai. xvi. 6; Ecclus. xxvili. 5; ‘ira perdurans,’ Damm’s Lex. Hom.) and κότος, being successively ‘ira inveterata’ and ‘ira inveteratissima’ (John of Damascus, De Fid. Orthod. 11. 16), nowhere occur in the N. T. Ilapopy:opos, a word not found in classical Greek, but several times in the Septuagint (as at 1 Kin. xv. 30; 2 Kin. xix. 3), is ποῦτε ὀργή, though we have translated it ‘ wrath.’ This it cannot be; for the παροργισμός (Hphes. iv. 26, where only in the N. T. the word occurs; but παροργίζειν, Rom. x. 19; Ephes. vi. 4) is absolutely forbidden; the sun shall not go down upon it; whereas under certain conditions ὀργή is a righteous passion to entertain. The Scripture has nothing in common with the Stoics’ absolute condemnation of anger. It inculcates no ἀπάθεια, but only a μετριοπάθεια, a moderation, not an absolute suppression, of the passions, which were given to man as winds to fill the sails of his soul, as Plutarch excellently puts it (De Virt. Mor. 12). It takes no such loveless view of other men’s sins as his who said, σεαυτὸν μὴ τάρασσε" ἁμαρτάνει τις ; ἑαυτῷ ἁμαρτάνει (Marcus Antoninus, iv. 46). But even as Aristotle, in agreement with all deeper ethical writers of antiquity (thus see Plato, Legg. v. 731 ὃ; ᾿ θυμοειδῆ μὲν χρὴ πάντα ἄνδρα εἶναι, x. τ. X.; Thompson’s Phedrus of Plato, p. 166; and Cicero, Tusc. Quest. iv. 19), had affirmed (Eth. Nic. iv. 5. 3) that, when guided by reason, anger is a right affection, so the Scripture permits, and not only permits, but on fit occasions demands, it. 134 SYNONYMS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. § xxxvu. This all the profounder teachers of the Church have allowed; thus Gregory of Nyssa: ἀγαθὸν κτῆνός ἐστιν ὁ θυμὸς, ὅταν τοῦ λογισμοῦ ὑποζύγιον γένηται : and Augustine (De Cw. Det, ix. 5): “Τὰ disciplina nostra non tam queritur utrum pius animus irascatur, sed quare irascatur.’ There is a “wrath of God” (Mat. iii. 7; Rom, xii. 19, and often), who would not love good, unless He hated evil, the two being so inseparable, that either He must do both or neither ;! a wrath also of the merciful Son of Man (Mark iii. 5); and a wrath which righteous men not merely may, but, as they are righteous, must feel; nor can there be a surer and sadder token of an utterly prostrate moral condition than the not being able to be angry with sin—and sinners. ‘Anger,’ says Fuller (Holy State, iii. 8), ‘is one of the sinews of the soul; he that wants it hath a maimed mind, and with Jacob sinew-shrunk in the hollow of his thigh, must needs halt. Nor is it good to converse with such as cannot be angry.’ ‘ The affections,’ as another English divine has said, ‘are not, like poisonous plants, to be eradicated ; but as wild, to be cultivated.’ St. Paul is not therefore, as so many understand him, condescending here to human infirmity, and saying, ‘ Your anger shall not be imputed to you as a sin, if you put it away before nightfall’ (see Suicer, Thes. s. v. ὀργή) ; but rather, ‘Be ye angry, yet in this anger of yours suffer no sinful element to mingle; there is that which may cleave even to a righteous anger, the παροργισμός, the irritation, the exasperation, the embitterment (‘exacerbatio’), which must be dismissed at once; that so, being defeated of this impurer element which mingled with it, that only may remain which has a right to remain.’ 1 See on this anger of God, as the necessary complement of his love, the excellent words of Lactantius (De Ird Dei, c. 4): ‘Nam si Deus non irascitur impiis et injustis, nec pios utique justosque diligit. In rebus enim diversis aut in utramque partem moveri necesse est, aut in nullam.’ ὃ xxxvi. SYNONYMS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 135 ὃ xxxviii. ἔλαιον, μύρον (χρίω, ἀλείφω).

Moulton & Milligan — Vocabulary of the Greek NT

θυμός is not so common as might have been expected, but it is found in the curious alphabetical acrostic of early i/a.D., P Tebt II. 278%?, where, with reference to the loss of a garment, it is said of the thief—@vpod περιπεσῖτε (/. - εἴται), “he will meet with anger” (Edd.): cf. BGU IV. 1141 Ovyarnp 2 94 θυρεός (B.c. 14) ἐπὶ θυμῶι. So in the new Alexandrian erotic fragment P Grenf 1. 1% (ii/B.c.) γίνωσκε ὅτι θυμὸν ἀνίκητον ἔχω ὅταν ἔρις λάβῃ pe. Add from the inscrr. the early Sy// 231 (the “‘ Gadatas’”’ inscr. translated from a rescript of Darius 1.) δώσω σοι μὴ μεταβαλομένωι πεῖραν ἠδικ[ημέ]νου θ[υἹμοῦ, Michel 1322 A* Δ]ιονύσιον κατα[δ]ῶ καὶ τὴν γλῶτ(τ)αν τὴν κακὴν καὶ τὸν θυμὸν τὸν κακὸν καὶ τὴν ψυχὴν τὴν κακήϊν, and Magn 115(a) (letter of Darius Hystaspes) δώσω σοι . πεῖραν ἠδικη[μέϊνου θυμοῦ. [In P Lond 4235 (B.c. 168) (=I. p. 31) for the editor’s θυμήν, from an apparently new form θυμή, we should read οὐ μήν, see Chrest. I. p. 732.] MGr θυμώνω, ‘‘ enrage.

Liddell-Scott-Jones — Greek-English Lexicon

θυμός (thumos) — wrath. θῡμός, ὁ, soul, spirit, as the principle of life, feeling and thought, especially of strong feeling and passion (rightly derived from θύω (B) by [Refs 5th c.BC+]

I. in physical sense, breath, life, θ. ἀπηύρα, ἀφελέσθαι, ἐξαίνυσθαι, ὀλέσαι, frequently in [Refs 8th c.BC+]; ἀπὸ δ᾽ ἔπτατο θ. [Refs 8th c.BC+]; of animals, [Refs], etc.: less frequently in Trag., [Refs 5th c.BC+]

I.2. spirit, strength, τείρετο δ᾽ ἀνδρῶν θ. ὑπ᾽ εἰρεσίης [Refs 8th c.BC+]

I.3. πάτασσε δὲ θ. ἑκάστου each man's heart beat high, [Refs]

II. soul, as shown by the feelings and passions; and so,

II.1. desire or inclination, especially desire for meat and drink, appetite, πιέειν ὅτε θ. ἀνώγοι [Refs 8th c.BC+]; βαλέειν δέ ἑ ἵετο θ[Refs]; θ. ἐποτρύνῃ [τινά] [Refs 8th c.BC+]; θ. ἐπέσσυταί τινι, ἐφορμᾶται, [Refs 8th c.BC+]; ἤθελε θυμῷ he wished in his heart or with all his heart, [Refs]; so later θυμῷ βουλόμενοι wishing with all their heart, [Refs 7th c.BC+]; ἄρχ᾽ αὐτὸς ὥς σοι θ. [Refs 5th c.BC+]; ὅπου ὑμῖν θ. [Refs 5th c.BC+]

II.2. mind, temper, will, θ. πρόφρων, ἵλαος, [Refs 8th c.BC+]; ἕνα θ. ἔχειν to be of one mind, [Refs 8th c.BC+]; ἐμὸν θ. ἔπειθεν[Refs 5th c.BC+]

II.3. spirit, courage, μένος καὶ θ. [Refs 8th c.BC+]; πᾶσιν δὲ παραὶ ποσὶ κάππεσε θ. [Refs 8th c.BC+]; ψῦχρος ἔγεντο θ., of doves, [Refs 7th c.BC+]; ἴωμεν ῥώμῃ καὶ θυμῷ ἐπί.. [Refs 5th c.BC+]; personified, Passion, Emotion, opposed to Λογισμός, [Refs 4th c.BC+]

II.4. the seat of anger, χωόμενον κατὰ θυμόν [Refs 8th c.BC+]: hence, anger, wrath, δάμασον θυμόν [Refs]; εἴξας ᾧ θυμῷ[Refs 5th c.BC+]; θυμῷ falsa lectio for{θυμοῦ} in [Refs 5th c.BC+]; opposed to λογισμός, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; ἐπανάγειν τὸν θ. [Refs 5th c.BC+]; of horses, [Refs 5th c.BC+], fits of anger, passions, περὶ φόβων τε καὶ θυμῶν [Refs 5th c.BC+]

II.5. the heart, as the seat of the emotions, especially joy or grief, χαῖρε, γήθησε δὲ θυμῷ, [Refs 8th c.BC+]; δόκησε δ᾽ ἄρα σφίσι θ. ὣς ἔμεν ὡς εἰ.. they felt as glad at heart as if.., [Refs 8th c.BC+]; μηδ᾽ ὀνίαισι δάμνα.. θ. [Refs 7th c.BC+]; of fear, δέος ἔμπεσε θυμῷ [Refs 8th c.BC+]; of love, τὴν ἐκ θυμοῦ φίλεον [Refs 3rd c.BC+]; ἐμῷ κεχαρισμένε θυμῷ my heart's beloved, [Refs 8th c.BC+]; reversely, ἀπὸ θ. μᾶλλον ἐμοὶ ἔσεαι wilt be alien from my heart, [Refs]; ἐκ θ. πεσέειν, i.e. to lose thy favour,[Refs 5th c.BC+]

II.6. mind, soul, as the seat of thought, ταῦθ᾽ ὥρμαινε κατὰ φρένα καὶ κατὰ θ. [Refs 8th c.BC+]; φράζετο θυμῷ [Refs 5th c.BC+]; οὐκ ἐς θ. φέρω I bring him not into my mind or thoughts, [Refs]

STEPBible — Tyndale Abridged Greek Lexicon

θυμός, -οῦ, ὁ (θύω), [in LXX most frequently for אַף, also for חֱמָא, חָרוֹן, etc., 30 words in all ;] passion, hot anger, wrath: Heb.11:27; ὀργὴ καὶ θ., Rom.2:8, cf. Col.3:8; πικρία κ. θ., Eph.4:31; πλησθῆναι, πλήρης θυμοῦ, Luk.4:28, Act.19:28; θ. ἔχειν, Rev.12:12; οἶνος τ. θυμοῦ τ. πορνείας (cf. Jer.51:7), Rev.14:8 18:3 (cf. Rev.17:2); οἶνος τ. θ. τ. θεοῦ, Rev.14:10; τ. ὀργῆς τ. θεοῦ, Rev.16:19 19:15; ὁ θ. τ. θεοῦ, Rev.14:19 15:1, 7 16:1; pl., impulses or outbursts of anger: ἔρις, ζῆλος, θυμοὶ, ἐριθίαι, 2Co.12:20, Gal.5:20 (Cremer, 287, 733).† SYN.: ὀργή, παροργισμός (AS)

Bible Occurrences (18)

2:8
3:8

📖 Greek Word Study — In-Depth Study from Precept Austin

Anger (outbursts of) (wrath, rage, indignation) (2372) thumos

Outbursts of anger (2372) (thumos from thúo = move impetuously, particularly as the air or wind, a violent motion or passion of the mind; move violently, rush along) describes passion (as if breathing hard) and so speaks of an agitated or "heated" anger that rushes along (impulse toward a thing). Thumos describes a tumultuous welling up of the whole spirit; a mighty emotion which seizes and moves the whole inner man. Thumos (especially when accompanied by breathing violently or hard) pictures a "panting rage". We've all seen individuals in whom there was a sudden outburst of this type of passionate anger. You can even see their nasal passages widening to take in more air in the heat of their passion. As Paul taught in verse 16, walking in the Spirit provides an excellent preventative against this type of sudden, explosive rage. Eadie says thumos is... explosions of rage that proceed from a vindictive heart and an ungovernable temper. NIDNTT writes that... thumos (the root thum is cognate with Lat. fumus, smoke, steam), occurs from Homer onwards, meaning (a) breath, life (Homer, Il, 6, 17; 5, 852), (b) spirit, strength (Od., 10, 78; Il. 17, 744), (c) soul as shown by feelings and passions, including desire and appetite (Il., 4, 263), anger (Il, 9, 496, 598), the heart as the seat of emotions (Il, 14, 156; 7, 189) and the mind as the seat of thought (Il., 1, 193; 4, 163). (Brown, Colin, Editor. New International Dictionary of NT Theology. 1986. Zondervan) As noted above, the root verb thuo has to do with moving rapidly and was used of a man’s breathing violently while pursuing an enemy in great rage. Thumos thus speaks of a turbulent commotion, the boiling agitation of the feelings, in which anger boils up and then subsides. It is a blaze of sudden anger which is quickly kindled and just as quickly dies. Barclay wrote that... The Greeks likened thumos to a fire amongst straw, which quickly blazed and just as quickly burned itself out. Orge is anger which has become inveterate; it is long-lasting, slow-burning anger, which refuses to be pacified and nurses its wrath to keep it warm... (Thumos) does not denote a settled and prolonged wrath. It denotes sudden explosions of passionate anger. It is the kind of anger which Basil described as the intoxication of the soul, that sweeps a man into doing things for which afterwards he is bitterly sorry. The ancients said themselves that such outbursts were more characteristic of beasts than men. The beast cannot control itself; man ought to be able to do so; and when passion runs away with him he is more kin to the unreasoning and undisciplined beast than he is to thinking man. (Barclay, William: New Testament Words:. Westminster John Know Press, 1964) Orge comes from a root meaning “to grow ripe for something”. It portrays wrath as something that builds up over a long period of time, like water collecting behind a dam. When used of God, orge describes His anger as gradually building and smoldering in righteous opposition to sin. Thumos refers to a passionate outburst, and is used to describe God's final outpouring of His anger against sin in the last half of the Tribulation (the Great Tribulation), until as John describes it "the wrath (thumos) of God is finished" (Rev 15:1-note). When used to describe mankind, thumos refers to the bursting forth of what is almost always an unrighteous, uncontrollable anger, while with God thumos pictures a righteous and controlled outburst. MacArthur elaborates on the distinction between orge and thumos noting that... In his study of The Apostolic Preaching of the Cross, Leon Morris notes that apart from the Book of Revelation, which describes the final outpouring of God’s wrath in all its unleashed fury, thumos is used only once of God’s anger. The word used in every other passage is orge. Morris observes, “The biblical writers habitually use for the divine wrath a word which denotes not so much a sudden flaring up of passion which is soon over, as a strong and settled opposition to all that is evil arising out of God’s very nature.” (MacArthur, J: Romans 1-8. Chicago: Moody Press or Logos) Thayer describes thumos as... angry heat...anger forthwith boiling up and soon subsiding again (while) orge on the other hand, denotes indignation which has arisen gradually and become more settled. Twice the apostle John uses uses thumos to refer to the passion of Babylon's immorality (Rev 14:8-note; Re 18:3-note) where the idea is of an intense, driving, or overmastering feeling. The interpretation of these two verses is not quite that straightforward because the other possibility is that thumos refers to the wrath of God that came upon the nations ensnared in Babylon's godlessness. John MacArthur feels that in Revelation 14:8, thumos (passion) "describes strong, consuming lusts and desires. As a result of their passion, sinners will engage in an orgy of rebellion, idolatry, and hatred of God." In the Revelation John repeatedly uses thumos to describe the passionate, righteous, holy outbursts of God's anger in the last half of the tribulation (Great Tribulation) TDNT writes that thumos is from thuo which denotes violent movement (of air, water, the ground, or living creatures). From the sense “to boil up” comes “to smoke” and then “to sacrifice.” Thumos means what is moved or moves, i.e., vital force, and it may then denote such varied things as desire, impulse, spirit, anger, sensibility, disposition, and thought. (Kittel, G., Friedrich, G., & Bromiley, G. W. Theological Dictionary of the New Testament. Eerdmans) There are 18 uses of thumos in the NT... Luke 4:28 And all in the synagogue were filled with rage as they heard these things (Comment: Here thumos describes the fury the Jews in the synagogue at Nazareth felt which caused them to seek to throw Jesus off a cliff. Rage is a violent, intense and uncontrolled anger, a fit of violent wrath.) Acts 19:28 And when they heard this and were filled with rage, they began crying out, saying, "Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!" (Comment: Remember that what "fills you" will control you [see "filled with the Spirit" Eph 5:18-note] - so in contrast to the fruit of the Spirit, we see these idol worshipping pagans in Acts 19 were filled with anger which burst forth and was directed at Paul’s preaching of the gospel and especially his claim that their idols “made with hands [were] no gods at all” - cp Acts 19:26, 27, 28) Romans 2:8 (note) but to those who are selfishly ambitious and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, wrath (orge) and indignation. 2 Corinthians 12:20 For I am afraid that perhaps when I come I may find you to be not what I wish and may be found by you to be not what you wish; that perhaps there may be strife, jealousy, angry tempers, disputes, slanders, gossip, arrogance, disturbances; Galatians 5:20 idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, Ephesians 4:31 (note) Let all bitterness and wrath (thumos) and anger (orge) and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Colossians 3:8 (note) But now you also, put them all aside: anger (orge), wrath (thumos), malice, slander, and abusive speech from your mouth. Hebrews 11:27 (note) By faith he left Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king; for he endured, as seeing Him who is unseen. Revelation 12:12 (note) "For this reason, rejoice, O heavens and you who dwell in them. Woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, knowing that he has only a short time." Revelation 14:8 (note) And another angel, a second one, followed, saying, "Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great, she who has made all the nations drink of the wine of the passion of her immorality." Tony Garland comments: It is called “the wine of the wrath (passion) of her fornication.” Although it primarily intoxicates the nations to participate in her fornication (Rev. 17:4), it is also brings them under God’s wrath for their participation. (note) Revelation 14:10 (note) he also will drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is mixed in full strength in the cup of His anger; and he will be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. Revelation 14:19 (note) And the angel swung his sickle to the earth, and gathered the clusters from the vine of the earth, and threw them into the great wine press of the wrath of God. Revelation 15:1 (note) And I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvelous, seven angels who had seven plagues, which are the last, because in them the wrath of God is finished. Revelation 15:7 (note) And one of the four living creatures gave to the seven angels seven golden bowls full of the wrath of God, who lives forever and ever. Revelation 16:1 (note) And I heard a loud voice from the temple, saying to the seven angels, "Go and pour out the seven bowls of the wrath of God into the earth." Revelation 16:19 (note) And the great city was split into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell. And Babylon the great was remembered before God, to give her the cup of the wine of His fierce wrath. (Comment: The same cup with which Babylon intoxicated the nations will now be used to serve her the wine of God’s wrath. This verse is very interesting in the Greek for "fierce wrath" is a combination of thumos and orge, which together give one some sense of the intensity of the outpouring of Divine wrath in the Great Tribulation) Revelation 18:3 (note) "For all the nations have drunk of the wine of the passion of her immorality, and the kings of the earth have committed acts of immorality with her, and the merchants of the earth have become rich by the wealth of her sensuality." Revelation 19:15 (note) And from His mouth comes a sharp sword, so that with it He may smite the nations; and He will rule them with a rod of iron; and He treads the wine press of the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty. (Comment: Like Rev 16:19 earlier, the Greek for "fierce wrath" is a combination of thumos and orge, which together gives one a sense of the outpouring wrath on the antichrist and the rebellious kings in this final battle of the Great Tribulation) Kistemaker remarks that so-called... “Private” sins, such as jealousy and envy, are not any better than “public” sins, such as drinking bouts and revelries. (Hendriksen, W., & Kistemaker, S. J. NT Commentary Set. Exposition of Galatians Baker Book or Logos)

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